Cultivation begins with forming a bond with a spirit bee.

Qu Ye let out a soft exclamation and carefully scanned the jade slip with his divine sense.

A moment later, he withdrew his divine sense, held the jade slip in his hand, and a hint of joy flashed in his eyes.

"It's a defensive spell, the Golden罡 Technique."

According to the jade slip, this spell is classified as a mid-grade first-tier spell.

Once mastered, it can condense a layer of spiritual light around the body, which can withstand attacks from cultivators of the same level. Even if it cannot withstand the attack, it still has a certain buffering effect.

"nice one."

Qu Ye couldn't help but nod.

He had just used up his talisman and was in dire need of defensive measures.

Furthermore, the method of cultivating this spell is not difficult; the strength of the spiritual shield is linked to the depth of one's magical power.

From now on, the Gengjin Sword Technique will be mainly for offense, while the Jin Gang Technique will be mainly for defense. Both of them are of the metal element, which will complement his Jinli Gong (Golden Sharpening Technique), making his cultivation twice as effective with half the effort.

"But why doesn't the scholar study this art?"

The spiritual roots don't match?

Qu Ye didn't pay much attention to it and put the Golden Qi Technique back into his storage bag. He would start cultivating it once this matter was over.

Finally, Qu Ye tallied up all the gains from this trip.

Including the spirit stones on the burly man, there were a total of nineteen; the Golden罡 Technique, which he kept for his own cultivation; three kinds of pills, worth about three spirit stones each, for his own use; and a low-level body-refining method, which he would see if he could sell.

"Oh right, I almost forgot about this."

Qu Ye suddenly remembered something and took out a magic sword from his storage bag, which was the scholar's sword.

Because its master is dead, the sword's spiritual light has dimmed, and its sharpness has become somewhat restrained.

"Hmm, as expected, it's a low-grade magic artifact."

Qu Ye channeled his spiritual energy into the sword and, after sensing it, learned about its specific characteristics.

The sword is in good condition; its original owner took good care of it, and there are no signs of damage.

It is inscribed with only one restriction, called "White Light".

Its function is also very simple: it can transform the injected spiritual power into sword light and unleash it. The power is directly proportional to the amount of spiritual power injected, but it cannot exceed the range that the magic weapon can bear.

Its power is not bad, so I'll keep it for myself.

"Let's call it the White Light Sword."

Qu Ye simply gave the magical artifact a name, but it wasn't suitable to refine it immediately.

"This was quite a profitable trip!"

After calculating the total, Qu Ye couldn't help but feel excited. He had worked hard to raise bees for a year and only earned ten spirit stones.

As expected, the method of obtaining resources through calamity is the fastest!

However, he also knew the truth in his heart.

As the saying goes, "He who walks by the river will eventually get his shoes wet." When the risk factor for robbery and repair is too high, it is easy for the vehicle to overturn.

Only by having overwhelming strength can one ensure absolute safety.

But then again, if your cultivation level far surpasses the other party's, why would you care about such a small gain?

Qu Ye shook his head, deciding to stop thinking about it.

He then guided the patrolling swarm of bees back to the hive and came to the scholar's corpse.

"No, we can't just go there like that."

After thinking for a moment, he used magic to modify the wounds on the scholar's body caused by the spirit bees, making them look like injuries sustained in a magical battle.

The same method was used on the corpses of strong men.

Finally, he took a deep breath, a resolute glint in his eyes, and thrust the white sword in his hand into his shoulder, the tip of the sword sinking into his flesh.

A sharp pain shot through him, and Qu Ye groaned, his veins bulging. He gritted his teeth, took out the White Light Sword, and left some more wounds on his body.

These injuries look frightening, but they are actually just superficial wounds. With the help of healing herbs, they can recover quickly.

There was no way around it; even if he said that the two were killed because of "insufficient magical power," it was impossible for him to be completely unharmed.

After all, he had only just entered the fourth level of Qi Refining.

After putting away the White Light Sword, Qu Ye took out some ordinary hemostatic powder and applied it to the wound, giving it a simple treatment.

After looking around and finding nothing amiss, he covered his wound, used his lightness technique, and hurried towards Cicada Cry Mountain.

.........

Cicadas sing on the mountain, at the gate of the Hou family.

Hou Yanke yawned.

He and another member of the Hou family were idly standing guard at the gate.

Today was his turn to be on duty. Although it was just standing guard and registering people coming and going, he couldn't leave all day, which was really exhausting.

He was feeling sleepy when a figure came running down the mountain.

Hou Yanke looked closely and immediately perked up. "Halt! Who are you?"

Hearing the sound, Qu Ye slowed down and stopped in front of the gate.

Hou Yanke then saw the person in front of him clearly. He was pale, his left sleeve was stained red, and there were several bloodstains on his face. He looked disheveled.

He instinctively took half a step back, extremely wary.

"I am a beekeeper's spiritual agent," Qu Ye said urgently, taking out a token and handing it over. "Report any important matters to Steward Hou Fangping."

Hou Yanke took the token, examined it carefully, and then looked Qu Ye up and down.

"Wait here for a moment, I'll go and inform them."

After saying that, he whispered something to another disciple, then turned and went inside the gate.

Seeing another Hou family disciple staring at him warily, Qu Ye remained silent, leaned against the stone sculpture in front of the door, and sat down, waiting quietly.

About the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, footsteps came from inside the door.

Hou Yanke ran out first, followed by an old man in a gray robe, who was Hou Fangping.

Hou Fangping, his face grim, walked to Qu Ye's side, examined his injuries, and asked:

"Your name is Qu Ye, right? What's going on?"

Qu Ye, supporting himself against the stone sculpture, stood up, cupped his hands in a respectful bow, his voice trembling slightly:

"Reporting to Steward Hou, today I went to the Spirit Bee Farm to check on the bee colonies, and on my way back I was ambushed by two Qi Refining cultivators. One was at the mid-stage of Qi Refining, and the other was at the early stage of Qi Refining."

"Fortunately, I recently advanced to the mid-stage and exhausted my trump cards, which allowed me to kill the two of them."

After listening, Hou Fangping glanced at Hou Yanke and said indifferently, "Oh, is that all?"

Hou Yanke gave an awkward smile, a hint of resentment towards Qu Ye rising in his heart.

So what if you encountered a calamity cultivator? You're not missing any limbs, so why bother Steward Hou?

"Not only that," Qu Ye added, "I once glimpsed portraits of the two who stole the spirit beasts in the hands of the disciples who sealed off the spirit beast arena."

"It is indeed these two cultivators who have undergone this tribulation!"

Hou Fangping's expression changed, a glint of light flashed in his eyes, and he stepped forward, grabbing Qu Ye's shoulder.

Are you sure?

Hearing Qu Ye hiss, he realized something was wrong and immediately let go.

"I cannot guarantee it completely, but these two people do indeed look very similar to the portrait, which is why I rushed here to report it."

Hou Fangping glanced at Qu Ye, remained silent for a moment, and then said, "Wait a moment."

He turned to the two disciples on duty and said, "Yan Ke, bring me a Muscle Regeneration Pill and give it to Xiao Qu."

He then strode into the doorway.

Hou Yanke nodded in agreement, took out a bright green pill from his storage bag, and handed it to Qu Ye.

"Fellow Daoist, this pill will be of some benefit to your injuries. Please take it quickly."

Qu Ye thanked him and accepted the pill. The pill was small, round, with a faint bluish hue, and had a herbal smell.

Muscle Regeneration Pill, a low-grade first-tier spiritual pill, differs from the Rejuvenation Pill in that it acts on physical injuries and accelerates the recovery process.

Qu Ye tilted his head back and swallowed the pill.

As time passed, a gentle aura slowly spread from his abdomen, flowing along the meridians to the injured area.

He quickly activated his "Golden Sharpening Technique" to help the medicine dissolve.

Soon after, a tingling sensation came from the wound on my left shoulder, like countless tiny insects crawling inside my flesh.

The bleeding from the other wounds gradually stopped.

"The effect is quite good!" Qu Ye's eyes lit up.

Once he has refined all the medicinal power, the injuries that would normally take four or five days to heal will probably only take two or three days now.

We can prepare more in the future.

At that moment, a series of hurried footsteps came from inside the gate, and judging from the sound, there should be quite a few people.

Hou Fangping led six disciples out. He glanced at Qu Ye, noticed that the injury was under control, and nodded.

Then, somewhat urgently, he said, "Xiao Qu, take us to the bodies to examine them. If they really are those two, you'll be rewarded!"

Qu Ye quickly clasped his hands in agreement and led the group toward the Spirit Bee Field.